Shakur Stevenson has highlighted the type of fighter who is likely to present him with the greatest problems.
The 28-year-old comes off a masterful performance against Teofimo Lopez, losing just one round as he outpointed and dethroned the then-WBO super-lightweight champion last month.
In doing so, Stevenson became a four-division world champion and cemented himself as a top five pound-for-pound star, joining the likes of Oleksandr Usyk and Naoya Inoue.
Because of his truly dominant performance against Lopez, though, many are now wondering whether the elite technician will ever be beaten in the professional ranks.
He has, after all, breezed past most of his 25 opponents with relative ease, utilising his defensive ingenuity and prolific jab to remain largely unscathed.
Prior to his clash with Lopez, the one fighter that many believed would cause him the most issues is William Zepeda, who entered their lightweight contest last July as an unbeaten contender.
Given the style of Zepeda, who typically fights at a terrific pace, it was only natural to suspect that his tremendous punch output would, at the very least, make for a competitive affair with Stevenson.
In reality, though, Stevenson was able to expertly manage his opponent’s intensity through 12 rounds, defending his WBC title via a wide unanimous decision.
Speaking with Cigar Talk, the American insisted that Zepeda is the only fighter that stood even a slight chance at beating him.
“It ain’t going to happen [somebody make a close fight against me]. The most y’all ever going to get is Zepeda – that was y’all’s best hope and chance at getting resistance.
“His style, styles make fights. The style that would give me the most resistance would be the guy who throws a million punches a round, and doesn’t stop punching.”
Unless a fighter emerges with a similar work rate to Zepeda, it is highly unlikely, according to Stevenson, that he will ever be beaten as a professional.
